With summer having settled in here in Farmington, and thoughts of summer reading occupying our prized moments of leisure, we were fortunate to have the opportunity of obtaining some guidance from the leading expert on the subject, Summer herself!

Kenny: Thank you for taking some time to visit us on this beautiful late July afternoon.

Summer: I’m delighted to be here, Kenny.

Kenny: Many people judge Summer by its accompanying weather. Is that fair? Do you have any influence or personal relationship with the weather?

Summer: I do, but it is not a simple one. One of my job responsibilities is to compose a small poem or prose poem depicting the character of the coming Summer for each region and submitting it to the Weather, who then interprets it. The interpretation is a creative not a literal one, so you might say I have influence but not direct influence.

Kenny: Wow, I had no idea! Can you share one with us?

Summer: Sure.

Would you wait with comfort or strain. I bid you  both. Unvisited harbors and unlooked for guests shall guide the wind’s character.

Kenny: Interesting; is that for this year in Maine?

Summer: No, it’s for Nebraska in 1913. Hah Hah.

Kenny: Hilarious. Can you tell us the poem for Maine 2013?

Summer: Well, no, not until next year. I can tell you my top summer reading picks though. Or did you just want to talk about the weather?

Kenny: Fire away. I’m thinking that there may be some picks with attitude.

Summer: Wrong again: they are all humorless and bland. Hah. All right let’s start with Fair Play, by Tove Jansson. I love to have a book you can pick up and put down, with short sections that are filled with life and insight and humor and all things wonderful. Fair Play is all that and more. Also, when you think of summer you think of coming of age, and Guy Gavriel Kay’s magnificent Ysabel is a strong choice there.

Kenny: Those are great choices! What about some new releases.

Summer: Well my top pick is Lexicon, it’s just so much fun! But some other big new hardcovers to dive into are The Golem and the Jinni, Let’s Explore Diabetes WIth Owls, Road, Gone Girl, and Massacre Pond. As far as paperback releases this summer, the best are Dog Stars, The Chaperone, Orphan Train, Double Cross, and Midnight in Peking. They’re all large scale fun. Monica Woods’ terrific memoir When We Were The Kennedy’s, set in Mexico Maine, is a must if you haven’t had the pleasure yet.

Kenny: Nice. Now how about some picks for the next generation?

Summer: Anyone who hasn’t been reading the Wereworld series needs to get with the program. I mean if you really could be entertained to death, I’d worry about recommending it. Wow! One big, thrilling scene after another. Jasper Fforde’s Last Dragonslayer is a true delight. Some other great new thought provoking page turners are The Fifth Wave, great aliens there, Sylo, set in Maine and a terrific new dystopia, The Testing. These are stories readers can really step inside.

Kenny: Awesome. Thanks. Any last thoughts?

Summer: Yes: be on the lookout on August 20th! Samantha Shannon’s Bone Season is even better than the big hype has suggested. An amazing book. Don’t miss it!

Kenny: I won’t. Thanks for the tip! I’m going to put all your selections below.

Summer: It was fun catching up on this summer’s books. Enjoy the days everyone.

Summer’s Reading List

	1) Fair Play Tove Jansson; Ali Smith; Thomas Teal Published by: NYRB Classics Edition: Paperback (ISBN #9781590173787)
	2) Ysabel Guy Gavriel Kay Published by: Roc Trade Edition: Paperback (ISBN #9780451461902)
	3) Lexicon Max Barry Published by: Penguin Press HC, The Edition: Hardcover (ISBN #9781594205385)
	4) The Golem and the Jinni Helene Wecker Published by: Harper Edition: Hardcover (ISBN #9780062110831)
	5) Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls David Sedaris Published by: Little, Brown and Company Edition: Hardcover (ISBN #9780316154697)
	6) Gone Girl Gillian Flynn Published by: Crown Edition: Hardcover (ISBN #9780307588364)
	7) Massacre Pond Paul Doiron Published by: Minotaur Books Edition: Hardcover (ISBN #9781250033932)
	8) The Dog Stars Peter Heller Published by: Vintage Edition: Paperback (ISBN #9780307950475)
	9) The Chaperone Laura Moriarty Published by: Riverhead Trade Edition: Paperback (ISBN #9781594631436)
	10) Orphan Train Christina Baker Kline Published by: William Morrow & Company Edition: Paperback (ISBN #9780061950728)

	11) Double Cross Ben Macintyre Published by: Broadway Books Edition: Paperback (ISBN #9780307888778)
	12) Midnight in Peking Paul French Published by: Penguin Books Edition: Paperback (ISBN #9780143123361)
	13) When We Were the Kennedys Monica Wood Published by: Mariner Books Edition: Paperback (ISBN #9780544002326)
	14) Rise of the Wolf Curtis Jobling Published by: Puffin Edition: Paperback (ISBN #9780142421086)
	15) The Last Dragonslayer Jasper Fforde Published by: Graphia Edition: Paperback (ISBN #9780544104716)
	16) The 5th Wave Rick Yancey Published by: Putnam Juvenile Edition: Hardcover (ISBN #9780399162411)
	17) SYLO D.J. MacHale Published by: Razorbill Edition: Hardcover (ISBN #9781595146656)
	18) The Testing Joelle Charbonneau Published by: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children Edition: Hardcover (ISBN #9780547959108)
	19) The Bone Season Samantha Shannon Published by: Bloomsbury USA Edition: Hardcover (ISBN #9781620401392)